Display case



W. ARDITO Nov. 28, 1939.

DISPLKY CASE Filed Jan. 10, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR W'ILLIQM ARDITO- WITNESSES:

'ATTORNE/V W. ARDITO DISPLAY CASE Nbv. 28, 1939.

s Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed Jan. 10, 1939 INVENTOR MLLIAM A WITNESSES:

DI Fo- ATTORNBf NOV. 28,1939. w ARDjTQ 2,181,637

DISPLAY CASE Filed Jan. 10, 19:59 5 Sheets-Sheet a WITNESSES: INVENTOR XV: LLIQM ARDITO ATTORNE Patented Nov. 28, 1939 UNITE-1o STAT This invention. relates .to refrigerator cabinets and more especially to refrigerated display cases. It is an object of this invention to provide a refrigerated display case in which dehydration of Es PATENT OFFICE DISPLAY CASE William Ardito, Springfield, Mass,, assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing (Jm-v pany, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application January 10, 1939, Serial No. 250,219

6 Claims.

the foods displayed therein is minimized.

may be materially reduced.

It is another object of my invention to provide a novel and useful arrangement of the cooling ducts in a display case of the forced air circulation type.

These and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the followin description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a refrigerator embodying the invention taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the refrigerator 1 taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 is a schematic drawing showing the air passages in the refrigerator and the direction of air flow therein.

Referring now to the drawings, the re numeral l0 represents a refrigerator olabinet having an upper compartment II and a lower A cooling unit I3 is disposed between the compartments II and I2 and is supported in a slightly inclined position between two air ducts l4 on opposite sides of therefrig- The cooling unit l3 comprises spaced strips of metal l5 through which a refrigerant tube It is passed back and forth. A shelf I] comprising spaced metal bars I8 is supported immediately above the cooling unit l3, and metal pans2l', for the materials to be dis played, are supported on the shelf H. A drain bafile comprising a series of Z-shaped bars 23 is secured in an inclined position below the cooling unit i3 and conveys the moisture dripping from 'the unit l3 towards the front wall of the refrigerator and permits it to drip into a trough 25. The trough 25 is provided with a pipe 26 through which the condensate drains into a water pan 2'! in the bottom of the lower compartment The water pan 21 is prodrain pipe 28, the entrance opening is elevated above the bottom of the pan 2'! so hat a portion of the water, is retained dify the air in the refrigcompartment I2.

erator.

ry n of the refrigerator.

vided with 29 of whicf in the pan 2! to humi ference erator. A perforated false bottom 3| for the lower compartment I2 is supported by intumed flanges 32 on the edges of the water pan 21.

Front walls 33 and rear walls '34 of the upper compartment II are sloped and the front wall 33 6 is provided with windows 35 through which customers may view the merchandise displayed on the shelf I1. Rear walls 34 and 36 of both the upper compartment II and the lower compartspectively, the doors 3'! of the upper compartment ll being of the sliding, glass panel type. The general arrangement of the display cabinet including the humidiflcation scheme is fully distion of R. H. Tull, Serial No. 218,270, for an. Improvement in forced air cooled display case 'and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

air in the refrigerator is circulated to equalize the temperature in each compartment. The general direction of the air flow in the compartments H and I2 is preferably upward so that the chandise displayed on the pans 2|, thus reducing dehydration of the merchandise.

The circulation of the air is effected by withdrawing air through a perforated conduit 42 in downwardly through a space between a false wall 43 and a side wall 44 of the refrigerator. The false side wall 43 has .a portion cut out near its, bottom, which opening is closed by a curved plate space for a fan 39 and fan motor 4!, which is energized by an electrical supply circuit 50. A horizontal partition 41 is also provided in the space in line with the fan 39 to insure that the storage chambers H and I2 of the refrigerator. The air space adjacent the side wall 44 of the refrigerator communicates with the air space below the false bottom 3| of the lower refrigerator compartment I2 compartment l2 through perforations 43 in the false bottom 3|.

. A portion of the air is also withdrawn from adjacent the cooling unit through openings 40 in compartment II. The air ducts l4 communicate with the space between the false side wall 43 and the true side walls 44 of the refrigerator and add a charge of chilled air from the cooling unit I3 the relatively warm air in this space,

ment l2 are provided with doors 31 and 38, re- 10 closed and claimed in the copending applica- In accordance with the present invention, the 20 air does not impinge directly upon the mer- 5 the top of the refrigerator and conducting it 30 46 to provide an enlargement in the air 35 air circulated by the fan 39 passes through the 40 and the air enters the lower 5 the air ducts l4 thereby by-passing the upper 50 thereby reducing the average temperature of the air therein. The function of the added chilled air is to aid in cooling the lower compartment I2 which otherwise would be too warm since it receives the warmest air of the upper compartment I I which air is further warmed in the air duct adjacent the false side wall 43 and the air duct below the false bottom 3|. I

The circulation of the air through the storage compartments II and I2 is preferably relatively slow, its speed being, for example, about 6 to 7 feet per minute. This slow rate of air circulation reduces the dehydration of the food exposed to it. The relative air temperature of the two compartments may be varied by varying the relative sizes of ducts I 4 and the duct 42 so that either a greater or a lesser amount of air is withdrawn adjacent the cooling unit I3.

The upper compartment I I is intended for displaying the merchandise to the customers and the lower compartment I 2 for storing the reserve supply of merchandise. At night and during holidays the merchandise in the upper compartment II may be removed and placed in the lower compartment I2 and the motor 4i stopped by opening a switch 5| in the circuit 50, which switch deenergizes the fan motor II independently of the system (not shown) for supplying refrigeration to the evaporator I5. This will substantially reduce the refrigeration of the upper compartment II and reduce the cost of operating the refrigerator.

It will be apparent that this invention provides a refrigerator in which the temperature is uniform in each compartment and in which the dehydration of the food displayed therein is reduced to a minimum. It also provides a display case having an upper compartment, the refrigeration of which may be substantially discontinued to reduce the cost of operation.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to tl cse skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a display refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet, a relatively large, flat cooling unit located therein to provide storage compartments on both sides of said cooling unit, said cooling unit having closely spaced air passages throughout substantially its entirearea, means associated with said cabinet for propelling air, means for directing air from an extended area remote from said cooling unit in one of said compartments to said air propelling means, means for conducting air from the air propelling means to an extended area remote from the cooling unit in the other of said compartments, the air thereafter passing through the last-named compartment and uni-' formly through the cooling unit and normally to the flat surface'thereof, and means for preventing substantial quantities of air from passing around the edges of the cooling unit directly from one compartment to the other and for directing a limited amount of air fromv adjacent the cooling unit to said air propelling means to supply an additional quantity of chilled air to one of said compartments.

2. In a display refrigerator, the combination of-a cabinet, a relatively large, flat, andhorizontal cooling unit therein to provide storage compartments thereabove and therebelow, said cooling unit having closely spaced air passages throughout a substantial area thereof, means associated with said cabinet for propelling air, means for directing air from an extended area in the upper portion of said cabinet to said propelling means, means for conducting air from the air propelling means to an extended area in the lower portion of said cabinet, said air thereafter. passing through the lower compartment and through the,cooling unit normally to the flat surface thereof, and means for preventing substantial quantities of air from passing around the edges of the cooling unit directly from one compartment to the other and for directing a limited amount of air from the cooling unit to said air propelling means to supply an additional quantity of chilled air to the lower compartment.

3. In a display refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet,'a relatively large, fiat, and substantially horizontal cooling unit therein to provide storage compartments in said cabinet above and below said cooling unit, said cooling unit having closely spaced air passages throughout a substantial area thereof, a drip collector below said cooling unit comprising spaced-apart troughs, means associated with said cabinet for propelling air, means for directing air from an extended area in the upper portion of said cabinet to said air propelling means, means for conducting air from the air propelling means to an extended area in the lower portion of said cabinet, the air thereafter passing through the lower compartment, through the drip collector, and uniformly through the cooling unit normally to the flat surface thereof, and means for preventingsubstantial quantities of air from passing around the edges of the cooling unit directly from one compartment to the other and for directing a limited amount of air from adjacent the cooling unit to said air propelling means to provide an additional supply of chilled air to the lower compartment.

4. In a display refrigerator, the combination of' a cabinet, a relatively large, flat, and substantially horizontal cooling unit therein to provide storage compartments thereabove and below, said cooling unit having closely spaced air passages throughout a substantial area thereof, a drip collector below said cooling unit, a Water pan in the lower portion of the lower compartment, and means for directing condensate from the drip collectorto the water pan, means associated with said cabinet for propelling air, means for directing air froman extended area in the upper portion of said cabinet to said air propelling means, means for conducting air from said air propelling means over said water pan and to an extended area in the lower portion of said lower compartment and towards said cooling unit, said air thereafter passing through the lower compartment, throughrthe drip collector, and uniformly through the cooling unit normally the flat surface thereof, and means for preventing substantial quantities of air from passing around the edges of the cooling unit directly from one compartment to theother and for directing a limited amount of air immediately after it passes the cooling unit to said air propelling means to supply an additional quantity of chilled air to the lower compartment.

5. In a display refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet, a relatively large, flat,-and substantially horizontal cooling unit therein to provide storage compartments thereabove and below,

said cooling unit having closely spaced air passages throughout a substantial area thereof, means associated with said cabinet for propelling air, means for directing air from an extended area in the upper portion of said cabinet to said air propelling means, means from the air propelling means to an extended area in the lower portion of said cabinet, said air thereafter passing through the lower compartment and through the cooling unit normally the flat surface thereof at a speed between 3 and 20 feet per minute, and means for preventing substantial quantities of air from passing around the edges of the cooling unit directly from one compartment to the other and for directing a limited amount of air' immediately after it passes the cooling unit to said air propelling means, the air passing through the cooling unit being cooled substantially uniformly.

6. In a display refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet, a flat cooling unit located therein to for conducting air provide storage compartments on both sides of said cooling unit, said cooling unit having closely spaced air passages therethrough, means associated with said cabinet for propelling air, means for directing air from an area remote from said cooling unit in one of said compartments to said air propelling means, means for conducting air from the air propelling means to an area remote from the cooling unit in the other of said compartments, the air thereafter passing through the last-named compartment and through the cooling unit, and means for preventing substantial quantities of air from passing around the edges ofthe cooling unit directly from one compartment to the other and for directing a limited amount of air from adjacent thecooling unit to said air propelling means to supply an additional quantity of chilled air to one of said compartments.

WILLIAM ARDITO. 

